Islamabad/New Delhi: At a time when several people have requested New Delhi to normalise diplomatic ties with Islamabad, a top general of Pakistan has urged his countrymen not to befriend kafirs (non-believers).
This is being seen as yet another attempt by the Pakistan Army to take up religious hatred when faced by crises at several provinces.
The remark came from lt Gen Ahmed Sharif Chaudhry, director general of Pakistan’s Inter Services Public Relations (ISPR), as reported by NDTV.
“Do not befriend kafirs (non-believers) and leave the faithful. If you do that, there’s a problem. Then you are not among the Muslims,” he said in a video message.
Chaudhry also took a swipe at India-Afghanistan ties, saying: “Afghans say their DNA is the same as Indians. If that’s true, how can Afghans be Muslims?”
This comes at a time when the Afghan Taliban – once Pakistan’s “strategic asset” – has now become its biggest headache.
“The main instrument of the TTP and the Afghan regime is terrorism. They run their economy, government and even diplomacy on the back of terror,” the ISPR DG said.
The Taliban has been having problems with Pakistan ever since it returned to power in Afghanistan in 2021. There have been several skirmishes between the two countries, resulting in loss of life.
Afghanistan, which is facing a severe food crisis, has claimed that wheat sent by Pakistan was rotten and inedible. In contrast, Afghans publicly praised India for sending 50,000 metric tonnes of high-quality emergency wheat.
Without naming India, Chaudhry also blamed “external powers” for the ongoing unrest in Balochistan.
“External forces know Balochistan is not just strategic, but rich in natural resources and the blue economy. When Balochistan develops, all of Pakistan will grow. That’s what they can’t digest, so they are interfering through terrorists and sardars,” the DG claimed.
The remarks have alerted intelligence and security agencies in India as Pakistan Army chief Asim Munir had spread religious hatred days before the Pahalgam terror strike in Jammu and Kashmir in which 26 innocents were killed.